Men's Basketball Weekend Preview: Detroit-Valpo, Green Bay-Cleveland State Highlight ESPN-Heavy Schedule

Horizon League Men's Basketball Weekly Release (Feb. 14)

Men's Basketball Weekend Schedule (all times Eastern)
Friday, Feb. 15
Milwaukee vs. Youngstown State -- 7:05 p.m., HLN
Green Bay vs. Cleveland State -- 9 p.m., ESPNU
Saturday, Feb. 16
UIC vs. Loyola -- 2 p.m., HLN/ESPN3
Detroit vs. Valparaiso -- 6 p.m., ESPN2
Sunday, Feb. 17
Milwaukee vs. Cleveland State -- 2 p.m., HLN
Green Bay vs. Youngstown State -- 2:05 p.m., ESPN3

It's going to be a heavy exposure weekend for Horizon League men's basketball with four games carried on the ESPN family of networks, highlighted by first-place Valparaiso hosting its closest pursuer, Detroit, on ESPN2 at 6 p.m. on Saturday.

Valpo earned its 20th win of the season and became one of just 14 teams in the country to reach at least eight road wins when the Crusaders never trailed at the Nutter Center on Tuesday, beating Wright State 68-61. It was the second straight wire-to-wire win for Valpo, which now hasn't faced a deficit in over 100 minutes of game time. The win also gave the Crusaders a season-sweep over the Raiders, who are idle this weekend.

Saturday night, Valparaiso will look to complete a season-sweep of the Titans after the Crusaders went into Calihan Hall in mid-January and broke Detroit's 17-game homecourt winning streak with a one-point win, overcoming an 11-point deficit with three minutes to play. Valpo will also be looking for revenge after Detroit blew out the Crusaders in the ARC during last year's Horizon League championship game. The Titans are coming off a 30-point win over Cleveland State.

The matchup is part of ESPN's Rivalry Week series and is featured on NBC Sports' College Basketball Talk's "10 Tidbits to Know" weekend preview.

Detroit-Valparaiso may be the most important, but it's hardly the only good Horizon League matchup this weekend. The action tips off tonight when Milwaukee visits Youngstown State. The Panthers are coming off a big win over Loyola and are looking to win back-to-back Horizon League games for the first time this season. The Penguins, meanwhile, are hoping to recover from a triple-overtime loss to UIC and complete a season-sweep of Milwaukee.

Also tonight, Green Bay visits Cleveland State on ESPNU. The Phoenix is coming off a big win against visiting Detroit, but hasn't played in almost a week and is dealing with the loss of junior Kam Cerroni, who decided earlier this week to leave the program. The Vikings didn't fare as well against the Titans, losing at Calihan Hall on Tuesday, their second-straight loss. Tonight's game will be available on ESPNU is being marketed as a Blackout and the first 2,000 fans into the Wolstein Center will receive a black t-shirt.

Loyola and UIC will re-ignite their rivalry Saturday afternoon in a set up to the Valpo-Detroit matchup. The Ramblers, who have lost four straight, are looking for their fourth-straight home win over their in-city rivals while the Flames look to build off that triple-overtime win against Youngstown State. An aside: Loyola senior forward Ben Averkamp today was named the Horizon League Male Scholar-Athlete of the Month for the third-straight month.

The Ramblers will be celebrating the 50th anniversary of its 1963 national championship team throughout the game, which will be carried on ESPN3 and ESPN Full Court as part of the Horizon League Network Game of the Week.

On Sunday, the Wisconsin teams and northeastern Ohio teams swap opponents as Milwaukee visits Cleveland State and Green Bay travels to Youngstown State for a matchup on ESPN3. The Wisconsin duo will be looking for a pair of season-sweeps: Milwaukee beat the Vikings 69-57 on Jan. 17 and that same night Green Bay picked up a 12-point win over Youngstown State.

Want a chance to win a trip to the Horizon League men's basketball tournament? Visit HorizonLeagueSocialRewards.com and sign up today!